Following what NATO described as an act of sabotage, Swedish officials said on Thursday that the fourth leak on undersea pipelines connecting Russia to Europe had been discovered.
Geopolitical concerns have been centered on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines as Russia halted gas supply to Europe in what is believed to be retribution for Western sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Four leaks on the pipeline in the Baltic Sea, two on the Swedish side and two on the Danish side, were confirmed by the Swedish Coast Guard on Thursday. There have previously been three leaks noted.
The damage, according to NATO, was “the result of deliberate, careless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage,” and the alliance backed inquiries to ascertain its cause.
The Western alliance issued a dire warning, pledging to “commit to prepare for, deter, and fight against the coercive use of energy and other hybrid methods.”
It added that the leaks pose threats to shipping and significantly harm the environment and that “any deliberate action against Allies’ key infrastructure will be addressed with a united and strong response.”
Russia, which has denied being behind the blasts, said it was likely that a foreign power was behind what it called a “terrorist attack.”
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The gas leaks were the subject of an “international terrorism” investigation by Russia’s security service, which claimed that the damage had “significantly damaged the Russian Federation’s economy.”
According to Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin, such an investigation “needed the assistance of multiple countries,” but several nations were “unwilling” to get in touch with Russia.
Russia asserted on Wednesday that Washington should respond if it was responsible for the leaks; the United States deemed this claim to be “absurd.”
On Friday, the UN Security Council will meet to discuss the situation.
Finland, which shares a border with Russia, made the decision to increase security around its crucial facilities, with an emphasis on the power network in particular.
The two main nuclear power reactors in Sweden raised their state of alert.
“Continuous” gas flow
Nord Stream 1 and 2 run from Russia to Germany and are administered by a partnership that is majority owned by the Russian gas company Gazprom.
The pipelines still had gas in them even though they weren’t in use right now.
It is hard to instantly investigate the structures because of the massive leaks, which have created undersea gas plumes and substantial bubbling at the sea’s surface several hundred meters wide.
On Tuesday, seismic research centers said they “in all likelihood” had detected explosions in the area before leaks were discovered.
A search and rescue vessel from the Swedish Coast Guard was scouring the region.
The agency released a statement saying, “The crew reports that the flow of gas visible on the surface is constant.”
The leaks will continue, according to Danish authorities, until the gas in the pipelines runs out, which is anticipated to happen on Sunday.
At a symposium in Paris, International Energy Agency executive director Fatih Birol declared that it was “quite evident” to him who was responsible for the leaks.
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According to him, Europe may see a challenging winter due to natural gas shortages caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
Without a significant negative surprise, Birol stated, “I believe Europe can survive this winter in terms of natural gas, with many bruises on our bodies in terms of costs, economics, and social difficulties, but we can go through it.”
Climate organizations claim that Nord Stream 1 and 2 contained about 350,000 tonnes of methane-rich natural gas.
According to Greenpeace, the leaks might result in the release of about 30 million tonnes of CO2 or more than two-thirds of Denmark’s yearly emissions.
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